*
Noah was relieved that Simone had been able to get Jennie ready with two days to spare. He felt like such a creep when he approached Jennie with the opportunity to be a “spokesperson” for The Haven. He didn’t know how much longer he could continue to supply Ruffing with “hostesses.” He knew the drug running and money laundering could blow up in everyone’s face at any time, leading to maximum jail sentences if caught. But with all the “hostesses” Ruffing was demanding, things had gone to a new level. Not that running drugs was acceptable, but this? What started out as picking young women for an innocent job—at least he thought it was innocent at the time—had morphed into recruiting them for very unsavory work. It seemed that, as things had escalated, he had become involved in human trafficking. And now he was, to put it in plain English, a procurer. And the women he was procuring for Ruffing were people who had come to Liam and The Haven for spiritual enlightenment. He knew he should tell Liam when he returned from his trip. It would crush him, but maybe it would also save him. The “how” was going to be very tricky. Ruffing was very powerful and connected to many powerful and not very nice people.
*
Sasha wasn’t too far behind Alexis and figured they had been heading back to the condo. Sasha and Alexis parked their vehicles a block away. Sasha looked for any traffic, but the street was empty. They swiftly swapped cars. Sasha would keep an eye on the condominium until her backup arrived. She needed to get some sleep. With Avery’s people on another assignment, the sisters enlisted the aid of Jimmy again, who was happy to oblige. It would only be for several hours until Sasha could regroup, and he didn’t have to worry about Maggie eating his Cuban sandwich.
With Simone in Miami Beach, it was a safe bet she wasn’t going to be returning home anytime soon. If she were to leave, Alexis would get a heads-up from Sasha, as Alexis made a daring attempt to put a tracking device on Simone’s car. When she approached the property, the red sports car sat in the driveway. Looking in all directions, she saw that the coast was clear for her to place the GPS bug under the car. She casually walked back to her vehicle and hightailed it out of the neighborhood.
Over the next two days, Sasha’s surveillance yielded no additional information. Simone went back and forth to her house, to the nursing home, and the apartment. There was no sign of the other woman leaving the condominium.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Pinewood
Myra was stroking her pearls and pacing. Tomorrow would be the day when Yoko would reconnect with Gabby. The wait was driving her crazy. Charles knew that Myra didn’t like to be idle when there was a mission, especially one with so many missing pieces.
The ringing of the phone made her jump. “Easy, old girl. It’s Fergus.”
“We have some more intel on the subject in Florida. Need to call a meeting.”
“Will do.” Charles looked at Myra. “Your magic pearls must be working. Fergus wants to have a meeting tonight.”
“I do hope we can have enough information to finalize a plan. Dealing with someone like Ruffing is like handling a nest of hornets.”
“Or a den of snakes.” Charles kissed her on the back of the neck. It was something that always made Myra a little weak in the knees.
“Charles! Don’t be naughty!” Myra enjoyed every bit of it.
“I’m simply trying to distract you, dear.”
“You are doing a spectacular job.” She leaned into him as he continued to nuzzle her.
Lady and her pups interrupted their canoodling with yapping and howling. It was their way of announcing Annie’s arrival.
They had a special bark, yelp, or yap for everyone. Very smart pooches indeed.
“I heard Fergus has some intel for us?” Myra asked, trying to recover from her flushed neck and cheeks.
“Did I interrupt something?” Annie teased.
Both of them replied with different answers. Charles said, “Yes.” Myra said, “No,” which made the three of them burst out laughing.
“Hah. I get it.” Annie winked. “Fergus should be here shortly. He still refuses to get in the cart with me.”
When Fergus entered the kitchen, Charles called out, “Well, if it isn’t the chinless wonder.”
“Very funny, old mate.” Fergus gave him a disapproving frown.
“If the shoe fits,” Annie chided.
“Enough of the tomfoolery. Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Fergus urged. “Who will be joining us?”
Myra answered. “Mostly everyone will be calling in except Kathryn. She should be here any minute.” With that, the cab of an eighteen-wheeler rumbled into the driveway, and Kathryn hopped out.
“Let’s fall to it.” Charles led the way down the steps to the War Room, and each of them saluted Lady Justice as they passed by.
Charles powered up the screens. The map was lit with dots showing the locations where the subjects had been the previous few days plus some other locations.
One dot was The Haven, another Faena House, then Ruffing’s marina, and the estate on Star Island. In a different color was the dentist’s office and the Bal Harbour Shops. Two more dots indicated Simone’s house and the nursing home. Then there was the dot on Cuba’s coast.
The sisters were dialing in. Isabelle was still in San Francisco, Nikki was in her office; Alexis, Yoko, and Maggie were in Florida.
After the “hellos” and air kisses, Fergus began.
“Some of this is recap, some new. Jack informed us that the FBI and DEA have eyes on Ruffing’s marina. Over the last several weeks, a cigarette boat has been spotted traveling to and from the marina between midnight and three A.M. An exchange of coolers, presumably carrying cash and drugs, is made. There is only one person who pilots the cigarette boat. He’s been identified as Noah Westlake.”
Gasps came from the others. “As in Liam Westlake’s brother,” Fergus confirmed.
“Is it just Noah or are there others?” Myra asked.
“From what Jack has discovered, it’s only Noah who makes the deliveries. Once the exchange happens, Noah returns to the marina, where two men take the coolers and transfer them to other powerboats. Those boats go as far as they can through the Intracoastal and the canals. The coolers are once again transferred to airboats. The airboats navigate through parts of the Glades until they reach the Gulf. Once they get to the Gulf, they split up, and some go to Alabama and the rest to Louisiana.”
“Do we know what the feds are going to do about it?”
“They were able to identify someone in the FBI who turned out to be Ruffing’s mole. He has now been ‘relocated.”’ Fergus used air quotes to accentuate the word. “Now they can move forward with gathering more intel without its getting back to Ruffing,.”
“Do they have an undercover agent inside?” Myra asked.